You Could Call it Fate
by Starry's Light
Summary: Rupert (or Santa, as the elves and millions of children called him) is left alone after an accident kills the last of the Claus family. Because of his, ah, peculiar situation, he ends up visiting other towns and later accidentally becoming friends with this crazy girl with pink hair - and in turn, a less crazy girl not all that different than he. Sort of shippy AC/FF oneshot.


**Hello! This is a very bizarre-looking crossover so I'm not sure why you're here but that's pretty cool! Uhh thanks for your support!**

 **It's basically the Arthur Christmas perspective on how, well, Christmas goes, and then the main characters are all from Fossil Fighters. If that makes sense? But there are a couple references to a couple AC characters (they aren't around anymore though in this... timeline/AU?)**

 **It's just something cute I've wanted to write for awhile now if I'm completely honest hahaha**

You Could Call it Fate

His loneliness etched itself deep into his soul. So it was his loneliness who took him outside of the home he had known for all of his life, and it was his loneliness who dragged him into society so wholeheartedly.

Just a number of small towns. Here and there, as the months ticked closer to the most important day in the entire year. Perhaps the work now bestowed upon him—as he was now the one in... _charge_ of all of it—would have been enough to sate him, had his predecessors not always prepared so much of it.

They were people very good at what they did, when they were still alive.

It was supposed to be another quiet place, another village gently stepped through in ordinary clothes, making him like any other civilian were it not for his admittedly strange silvery hair. It was supposed to be another unremarkable place full of faces he could watch and experience and almost fill that gap with, that achingly lonely gap with.

And then this girl—her skin dark, her hair a peculiar state of long, pink-dyed curls down her back—with the friend who nudged her. And then she had to get all curious, her big green eyes widening ever so, and then she had to suspiciously creep over to him and introduce herself, staring so immensely it was like she'd never heard of the term _stranger_.

"I've never seen _you_ before," she remarked. One long, thick hand addressed her chest and she made a halfhearted attempt at what almost came to a bow and ended with the abrupt nod of a head. "I'm Pauleen, and you're... weird."

Oh great. Reassuring.

Rupert struggled greatly in hiding how this confrontation made him feel. His cheeks singed somewhat and he winced. "What makes you any less weird, coming up to me like so?"

"Mmf." And then she laughed, tossing her head back. A soaring, melodious roar. "Yeah, that's true, I guess!" Laughing again, her giggles slowly subsiding. Mischievous emerald eyes glistened in the light of the early November sun. She turned back on him, her grin biting. "But that doesn't change the fact at hand. Who the heck are you, standing around, staring off like... like..." And her lip puckered as she spoke it, like a curse: "Like you're all _lonely_ , and stuff. And you're waiting for someone to just—like—"

He blushed. "I-I am not enacting such a fals—"

"Like you're _waiting_ for _me_ or _Di_ no or _some_ one to just—just _talk_ to you!"

Her curls exploding in the breeze, her head fell back and she went to laughter again. F-Found him hilarious, did she.

"So anyways." Her eyes level. She was a number of inches taller than Rupert and he tried to ignore how demeaning it felt with—with someone like her. Condescending, _yes_ , but in a sly, percolating sense that was tinged in an almost guilty feeling. But not quite. "Who're you, then? Lookin' all lonely?"

Making him _blush—_ bloody _girl—_ "M-My name is... Rupert." He tried to direct conversation back toward her, the weird stranger who purposely went out of her way to mess with him. It made things much easier. "Are you..." turning to watch as her friend, shrugging, began to go off toward one of the stores lining the street ahead. "Are you shopping for something in particular?"

"Well, yeaaaah," she mused, waving off toward the boy as he went on without her. She didn't seem to mind, and _he_ didn't seem surprised. "That's Dino. We were looking for some stuff for his sister and some of the others, since Christmas and all. Oh and groceries. But mostly gifts. I'd have no idea what to get Dina, but he'd... know? I dunno. Dina's impossible to get gifts for, she never freaking wants anything." As Pauleen drabbled on, it still made a weak throb in his heart.

Christmas. That was... his legacy, his everything...

Gently shaking his head, Rupert turned back toward his odd, loud stranger. "Anything in particular?" While it was true Santa tended for gifts toward children, such was not always the case, and he could _ask_ even if he _wasn't_ gonna— _freaking—_

"Mmh." Pauleen shrugged, her eyes upturned toward the somewhat-cloudy sky as she struggled to remember. "Uhhhh... Some mugs, like with the cute Christmas turd on them or whatever... and, like... maybe a sweater... some of those discount-priced books... oh and... and—and—that's _right—_ " As if automatically, she reached into the back pocket of her pants and pulled out a crumpled piece of glossy paper that had seen better days. Small speckles of water damage and multiple creases added character to its age. "This!"

She spoke so triumphantly of the image depicted upon the paper. Ripped out of some magazine or another, Rupert stared blankly at the plush dinosaur in its red coat and red hat and white trimmings that smiled back at him. "What in the world is..." he couldn't bring himself to finish the thought.

"It's, like, the most _insane_ stuffed animal ever, huh? It's like... Santasaurus rrrex or somethin'! It's crrrr _azy_!" Pauleen pointed a sharp nail at the happily beaming phenomenon. "That's right, that's right, Dino had this idea to try and find it at Target since, like, where _else_ would it be, and get it for Dina since, like, what _else_ do you get her... but we're not sure if we can find it." A thoughtful smile cupped her lip.

Then she shook her head and the piece—thoughtlessly smushed into an inordinate ball—returned to her pocket. "At least, that's the idea. You know, maybe, right? We'll keep a look out and if we don't find it, that's alright too. But, hey. If we do."

As, well, Santa, Rupert had certainly seen more creative images than the... Santasaurus rex. But it stuck to him, the dumb thing. He'd have to see if he could find one himself. Directing his attention back toward the stranger, he doffed his head. "I wish you luck in finding your stuffed animal. I'm sure... Dina would enjoy to see it."

"Meehhhh," Pauleen muttered, half-pouting, "you're makin' it sound like I'll never see you again!"

"And this is a problem because?"

"Well you're a lonely piece of weirdo who for all I know will still be in the exact same place tomorrow! And I only work part-time—at that store back there"—pointing out one with a massive sign studded in glitter with a cardboard cutout of a dress beside it—"and I'm totally coming back if we can't find that dumb Santasaur. See if it's there tomorrow, or whatever.

Turning to face him, Pauleen's lips twisted into a relaxed grin. "So I'll just have to come back and entertain you again, huh? Oh—Oh wait, nah, I got a better idea." Eyes lighting up. "You show up tomorrow and I'll bring someone with me. _She_ can entertain the lonely out of you."

Rupert would have enjoyed nothing more at that time than to persuade her out of that _embarrassing_ and _childish_ and _frivolous_ point of view had the fact that he was talking with a stranger and not only that but talking for so long not already astounded him. He was... kind of freaking out. A little bit. N-Not _really_.

So then it was. He decided he might as well return the next day, as... humiliating as that girl was for him. He fond himself strangely excited—if not also nervous—to see who Pauleen would bring with her.

And he had to admit that it felt—it felt n-nice being... teased again. It did.

Rupert managed, through an exhausting number of his sources, to find one of the profound "Santasaurus rex" plushes that Pauleen had spoken so giddily toward.

He felt as little selfish, but, well... if it kept her coming...

By the next afternoon, he stood on his own again in the little grassy area by the shopping district, one he certainly would have forgotten about had it not been for... that girl. Waiting, staring off idly, the sound of boots crunching over snow startled him and he glanced over to catch the pinkette traipsing over to him with a second shorter female following close behind.

The latter held the drawstrings of a bag tightly between mittened fingers. Pale skin set to a flush by the chill of the day, orange curls escaping from the scarf around her neck and billowing freely. She did not seem to mind.

"Well, look! What do you know!" Pauleen pointed vaguely off into his direction. Her friend's eyes widened and she jumped on the balls of her feet until she went off balance and slammed into the taller woman's side and then they both went sprawling for a moment there. "Gaahh—look, look—that's him there! Go say hi or something!"

Jumping rapidly, the newcomer pushed herself in front of Rupert and a bouncy grin easily fell onto her face. "He-Hello there! Pauleen has told me very many things about you!" A soft voice. Warm, light, the pitch high but not uncomfortably so. "Are..." Rupert flinched as she took a step over and casually demolished the meaning of personal space. "Are you _realllly_ a poor lonely weirdo?"

So she... Rupert winced. "No—No, not at a—"

"Yeaah he is!" proclaimed Pauleen herself as she narrowed in on the two. "I'm telling you." Cupping a hand over the new girl's shoulder. "Dina, he's a freakin' _weirdo_." She rolled her eyes and breezed past her.

The redhead appeared... confused. She blinked rapidly and tried to face Pauleen as the latter moved on. "He—He does not look very weird to meeeee..." she mumbled.

"Good for you." Puffing her cheeks, Pauleen shrugged. "Now you go be a good Dina and I'll be back in a little while." A thoughtful pause. "If things get weird, don't be afraid to say _no_."

 _No_ she—Rupert blushed—"There is no need for—"

" _Yes_ there _is._ " Snort. "No hard feelings, though." And with that, the pinkette sashayed out of the situation and left Rupert and the other gi— _Dina—_ to fend for themselves. What a... strange woman.

After a hesitant glance in her direction, Dina scooted a little closer to him, staring curiously. "Oh um... he-here!" She suddenly thrust the bag in front of her and... bowed her head. "These are f-for you!"

"Wh-What?" he stuttered, "wh-what do you... F-For me?" Thoroughly discomposed.

Dina made a fast, nervous glance up at him. "Yeah... for you..." Shy, her eyes darted back to the ground.

Because things were going nowhere, he accepted her gift and gently unwrapped the bag. Inside was a plastic container, and inside of that, a wayward stack of... cookies. He shook it tentatively, little deformed creatures bouncing around in the box. Green leaf-like formations suggested mistletoe or miniature Christmas trees, and balls with hooks colored to resemble ornaments. A few reindeer pranced about here and there, the color of their coats more a muddled red than brown, and atop the pile lay the most lopsided Santa Claus he had ever seen. A smiling one, fat and bald and happy.

Heh. Rupert couldn't help but break off and laugh for a moment.

Nothing like him, huh?

"Um..." His eyes darted back to Dina, who stumbled as he caught her gaze. "Y-You can... try one... i-if you want..." Smiling gently, her head tilted back to the snowflake-accented ground again. "We... did not have any, um, non-gluten... flour or anything, s-so I am... I am sorry if you—"

"N-No, they're... they're fine." A small grin and Rupert wrestled the top off of the plastic: it slipped in his fingers with a satisfying pop. He glanced dubiously from iced cookie to iced cookie, eventually settling for a small gift-looking one—at least, it was in the shape of a square and had _some_ sort of blob of color at the top of it... perhaps a bow.

He nibbled at one of the corners. "Oh, these are..." Homemade. He'd had some amount of different cookies, being Santa's neph— _Santa—_ and all, and he could relatively tell the difference between store-bought and not. Though, well, the, ah, _structure_ already gave that away. "Sugar cookies?"

"Eheh... mmhmm. They are... They are my favorite, so I... heh..." She sort of made a shrug at her feet. "I am sorry if they do not look very nice, um... I was... I was up late making them and it... it might sh-show a little..." Weak laughter.

Rupert glanced up at her again. "Why were you... up late?"

She made another small laugh. Her gaze was warm, albeit shy. "Pauleen forgot to tell me that she wanted me to come um... me-meet you until she was getting ready for bed and... and I wanted to do something so I... heheh..." Her cheeks pinked. "Do—Do not worry, I... I just slept in really late, I... I just wanted to be sure the frosting would dry, so I... heh...

A small glance toward the container and she squeaked slightly. "Oh and! Oh and... we do not have any cookie cutters, so I made the shapes myself and... and I am sorry if they did not... come out very well to you..."

Suddenly all of those imperfections blew up in his eyes and melded into precious art. "Re-Really? Wow..." They weren't so bad. No, they... weren't. "I think they look nice."

Dina stared up at him. "Y-You do? I-It is okay if you do not!"

"No I... heh... I do, they... they're nice." Rupert smiled somewhat into the rest of the cookie. "Thank you... Dina."

That got her excited. "You are welcome! Eheh... I am happy that you like them!"

Somehow, when he glanced back at her, the only thing he could think of was how Pauleen was _right_ , this girl came off as... _very_ difficult to get the right gift for. The kind who would gladly accept whatever they were given and therefore made it practically impossible to tell whether they were genuine or simply didn't want to hurt the giver's feelings...

It made one as... well, dare he say _professional_ as he try and... find something that she would enjoy.

Then he remembered that dorky plush dinosaur and he felt a little guilty again about... well, about how Pauleen certainly wouldn't find one at any of the... stores in this area... since he... _heh_...

Like she knew what he was thinking of, Dina suddenly asked, "Are you... doing anything over the holiday? Heh, I know it is not for awhile but... I get excited thinking about it."

"Me?" Startled, Rupert struggled to think. "No, not very much." Other than delivering hundreds of billions of gifts to hundreds of millions of children, not very much at all. "Are you?" Because it was, well, the polite thing to do.

"Oh I am! Eheheh... My friends are usually tired but I always stay up reaaaally late and wait for it to be midnight so I can... eheh... So I can celebrate and stuff..." While blushing, she didn't seem to mind.

How cute.

Rupert attempted to ignore how quickly attached he was getting toward the funny girl.

The next day both parties continued to uphold their word and Rupert met up again with the small redhead who peeked so shyly up at him, a smile curling up her lip.

"S-So you are back again!" A little spark of excitement touched her eye. "I cannot... even say where you are from but—but you came back and... that is cool!"

He couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "If I may, why do you care so much?" Honestly, why _was_ he coming back? A few of the elves had begun to question his daily disappearances. Perhaps not very boldly, and they certainly couldn't look their... new, ah, boss, in the eye, but well, nor could he to them. And anyways, he hadn't much to do. What with... how the others ran things.

Well it's what he kept telling himself.

"Heheh..." He abruptly turned to face the girl again. "I could... ask the same thing about you..." Not that she did. "Umm..." She blushed, then. "It is an embarrassing reason. I-I mean... outside of how Pauleen wants me to keep... heh, _pestering_ you. She is... funny like that." Kicking at a bit of snow nestled upon the earth. "She gets attached really easily. She thinks you look reeaaallly sad.

Dina puffed her cheeks. "I do not think you look really sad, but maybe I am just stupid, huh? Ha-Hahaha..." An undertone hinted at an introspection she glossed over often.

It made Rupert uncomfortable, but he didn't really know how to break that sort of thing, since she just, uh, mentioned herself like—like that—but he was beginning to pick up on the fact that she didn't seem to care all that much. His heart still beat nervously but she... but she really didn't... seem to care. Wh-What an odd girl.

Or perhaps _everyone_ was this odd and he just didn't know it because he literally lived at the North Pole.

A curious silence followed. Both were unable to glance at the other; it was... kind of awkward. Ahh, why _did_ he come back... Maybe the dumb Santasaurus conflict had struck him unusual enough to keep him coming...

Still a little nervous, Dina's gaze scrawled along the ground and eventually entangled down the street where a smiling snowman stood. A lilac scarf twisted about in the light wind and a carrot nose—partially bitten off—stuck triumphantly to its frozen face. The redhead in front of him bunched up the more she stared at the snowman, and then her fists sort of balled up and she stood at a loss, unable to voice her thoughts.

"Do you..." Oh, Rupert didn't know. "Do you like snowmen?"

Dina suddenly realized that there was also somebody else there. She squeaked and shook her head and tried at a smile and her head tilted lamely to the ground again. "Heheh... Yeah..." Her thought bubbled up at her lip again. "U-Ummmm..." And there it stayed, juggling in tandem from the safety of silence to scary reality.

It was... cute. Rupert perked. "Do you want to build one?"

"MA—MA—" Squeaking rapidly, Dina's hands closed around her face. "MMMmmmaaybee..." It trailed out in the moments that followed. Dina stared dumbly ahead. She was trying to blink hope out of her head and it wasn't working whatsoever.

He giggled, watching her. She reminded him of his uncle, who had been a childish but heartwarming person in his time, and maybe of the children themselves too. It was stupid but then it was also precious and it almost hurt, how _touching_ it was.

And so they did. But it took a lot longer than it should've because after that snowman, the two determined that he looked pretty lonely and thus made him a friend, and then another, and then another, and it went on like that until Pauleen surprised them when she popped out of nowhere and it spooked them so hard that it yanked them out of their snowman-induced stupor.

She called them both _ffffffreaking dorks_.

Rupert didn't know how to feel about that.

But he kept coming, the next day and the next, so perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing.

Eventually there came a time when visits weren't so exclusively limited to afternoons and it even go to a point where they let him hang out in their house and _everything._ It made Rupert much more excited than he would've liked to admit.

Perhaps he should have questioned the fact that Dina always appeared to be free. Perhaps she questioned the same toward him.  
This was not voiced aloud, even so, when they met up.

It was one quiet morning that Dina gave him this funny glance and asked, "What is your family like, Rupert?" And then she paused and she laughed and she murmured, "If... that is okay to ask."

"No, it's... it's fine..." Ahh, bashful again. "They, ah... they passed recently."

There's this awful moment where Dina choked and sputtered, "Ohhhhh, d-di-did you—when you came to _day_ did—did they _jus—_ "

"No—Ahh, Dina, no, no..." His quiet, gentle tone quickly reassuring her. A small knot of doubt continued to twist her lip, her gaze vacant, shadowy, but otherwise she more or less managed a recovery. "It was a few months ago... by now." Oh what a funny thought. "They were not so bad. My father was a very harsh man, but he had... moments where he was endearing in his own right. Although I suppose that is a given, as how else would... he have found love, yes? A wife to birth a child...

Rupert stared off, his voice softer the further back he traveled in his memories. "I don't remember much of my mother. She wasn't... She died when I was much younger. But I remember my uncle very well. He and... my father. They were the most prevalent." Well. They were also the only other humans. "My uncle Arthur was a... very wonderful man, before the accident. I still... miss him, a lot... sometimes."

He could explain without details, right? He couldn't... exactly _tell_ her... about... well...

"Nnnh... I-I am sorry, I did not know..." A wistful smile touched Dina's lip. "Heh. My dad is still around, so we see him all the... all the time. But um... we—I mean, Dino and I—do not live in his house anymore, since we all..." And then she drew off too. Ah, now they were _copying_ each other... "Dino—he is my brother. He is really funny and... and nice. Heh. He works at one of the theme parks out of town... he! A-Actually, he... he...

Getting excited again. "He works a _lot_ at this other one, this—this— _Splashtown—_ and it is reaaaally cool and he loves it and he is, like, executive something or ummm _really_ high up in business there! Heh, but it is closed when it is cold out, because it is a water park. But he is so coooool...

"And Pauleen works part-time at her clothing place... And Todd! You never met Todd, did you, heheh... Todd owns the store! He lives with us too but he and Dino do not work part-time so they are, um, out a lot. But Todd does not have far to walk... Eheh, Dino rides his bike. It is not too far out from town..."

Of course, this brought to question what _she_ did. "Dina, what is yo—"

She stumbled. It became evident that the small redhead had not... considered the fact that he might care about her own life. "U-Um... well, that is... umm..." Her eyes dropped to the carpet. "Nnnh..."

It soon came to Rupert that this was the embarrassing reason Dina spoke so lightly of when they met and she kept... coming back.

"I um..." Weak smile. She didn't try to make eye contact. "I do not have one. He-Heh. I... clean and try to help around and all... I do a lot of the work here but..." Her cheeks flushed. "Ohh...

She got quiet. "It is... okay if you laugh, but um... I am not very good at very many... things." Bit her lip. Her... quivering lip.

Oh, no...

He couldn't look at that sad, sad face, those dark eyes, the sort of stooped, sunken stare that he'd lived with for he didn't even know how long and he stood up and stepped through the second it took to embrace Dina. Her head veered away from his, and he caught only a glimpse of what had to be the brink of tears.

"Dina... you must have talent somewhere..." Ah, she was so _kind_ and _gentle_ and _warm_ and that _stare_ , that lonely stare, it tore him up inside, seeing her so... desolate.

"No... no, I..." A small cough into his shoulder. "I really should have fa-failed out of... high school... but maybe my teachers fe-felt bad or maybe it was all those assignments Dino... ma-may have done for me but I... Nnngh, I sw-swear I tried, I tried really... really hard but I just...

She jammed her shaking frame into his sweater. Her voice was muffled, but it bled warm into his body. "I must be _really_ stupid, hu-huh... H-How can I be bad at everything..."

Oh, Dina... "That's... not true, though. Dina, you _are_ good at something."

She made a small pule sound into him.

"Yes, you are..." His voice soft. "You..." Oh, now _he_ was... embarrassed... "You made me cookies that one time. Remember? That... meant a lot to me. And you're so... sweet to others, and you make me... happy. And I can't be the only person who feels that way. Perhaps that is why your teachers let you pass, because of that genuine... joy."

He didn't know... he just, ahh, that sadness killed him...

Because she _did_ make him happy, wonderfully happy, truly happy. And perhaps it only had been a sprinkle of time throughout a pathetic number of months but that didn't... matter. She was the... first person he'd started to become close to since Arthur's...

It's funny. He never would've dreamed of running off like this and visiting some group of people near his age like so had they not... met their untimely demise. Yes, they were growing old, but even still, it... it felt wrong. Or maybe that was just him missing his family, he—he didn't know. He hadn't really expected to mourn his cold and calculating father as much as he did.

Eventually Rupert came to his senses and released the girl, whose tears slowly dried and shudders slowly died. She came to a halt and she let out a small breath and she tried at a smile. "Heh... Yes, maybe." Dina shyly stared off into the carpet again, her bare toes digging into small patches of fronds. "I... I told them I could get a—an occupation at an... easier place, one that does not require anymore schooling or any... um... advanced measures.

"They all... thought it would be for the best if I did not. A-At least for now... I guess."

Rupert attempted to mirror her expression. "I'm sure you do your best where you are now. And that is all you can do, yes?" It eased him, seeing her begin to recover. Pff... it really did.

A ripple came across Dina's face, like she was disguising a laugh that almost fell out. "Ye-Yeah... Yeah..." Then she pouted. "Nnnnnh, but I feel like they baby me sometimes... Like—nnnnnng—Like you _see_ how... Pauleen is, with me..." Small, distressed intake. "Rupert, am I... pathetic?" Glancing meagerly in his direction.

"I don't... think you're pathetic."

These weren't simple words that fell off his tongue and into the air like nothing. He... He knew what pathetic supposedly looked like. He knew a father whose father was Santa yet he couldn't comprehend children. He knew an uncle whose shoulders held the entire operation of Christmas yet he tripped constantly and made a mess out of everything and...

Dina wasn't pathetic. She... wasn't.

Glancing off, Rupert mumbled, "I like you how you are, Dina. Really, I... I do."

"Heh... Y-You do?" Nervous again. "Well ummm... I like you how you are too! Heheh... I like being around you..."

O- _Oh_ , nobody ever... told him _that_ before. Oh goodness... "Th-Thank you." Now he's gonna lose his mind or something.

What really didn't help was when Dina smiled back, her little happy smile, and she murmured, "Thank you too, Rupert."

Rupert left that day in the same stupor and it stayed with him for a majority of the night. By morning the elves were questioning him again, much more strongly, especially as the most important day in the year crawled closer and closer and now practically sat on their doorway.

There was nothing else to do. He stayed with them and he steadily worked into the groove of the upcoming splendor. The elves managed miraculously on their own, but they had this weird obsession with having Santa watch while they worked, supposedly in the case that one of them messed up, but they... they were pretty _amazing_ so it's not like their errors were even notable.

Nothing as notable as missing a child, huh? His father used to say that. But it always felt a little sarcastic.

The longer he spent outside of that little town, the more he thought of her. And before he knew it, the more he thought of her, the more his resolve strengthened. He knew what... he needed to do. It had only been a few days so for all he knew she still wondered, sometimes, but with Christmas fast approaching he couldn't say.

Perhaps Dina was disappointed, now that he had vanished so suddenly as he had appeared those months ago. Oh, but perhaps not... He didn't know these things...

But either way that resolve strengthened and there was nothing else to do. December twenty-fourth strolled on by as infectious as it always was and then by the time it was dark in Australia, Japan, all those later countries, he set out.

The S-1 was still in use. Of course it was. Rupert had absolutely no skill in that area and while his father had given it a number of adjustments and minor upgrades as the years drove on, it still stood the test of time rather magnificently. The next EvE, Arthur... would say.

He told that story to Rupert when it was late and he couldn't sleep. A bedtime story, sure, full of lions and seven and a half reindeer and _Robot Roy_ , as his... great-grandfather had called Steve. Rupert's dad: Robot Roy, texting on his... calculator. Arthur liked that part of the story a lot so he tended to glorify that one scene.

But there it came, and there it went. Thousands upon thousands upon approaching millions of miles over land and water and who knew how many absolute _billions_ of gifts. The elves had outdone themselves, as they always did. He had already suggested it to one of them, a slightly longer stop in a much smaller town, but they caught on well enough and had an idea of where it was going, so stop they did.

A gift under his arm, Rupert flew down on one of those bungee zipline-esque contraptions attached to the bottom of the S-1 and landed not too badly on the snow. He quickly ducked along the shadows and edged around a tree, a building, some fences until finally spilling into the doorway of a home he had seen so many times as of late.

Gentle knocking. He waited, breathless—because he _knew_ only she was up at this time—she had to be—unti—

There she was. A little tired-looking, her smile ever present. Shock exploded upon her as she stared back, out of breath. "U—Um—Rupert, you... you are..."

She saw the suit, she saw the hat, she saw the look in his gaze that suggested he had been out in the dark for hours now serving this very schedule.

Gasp. Recognition.

"Merry Christmas," he murmured and placed the gift into her hands. She stared at the wrapping, the well-smoothed paper, the shining bow, the tag: **From Santa**. An incredulous smile. Gently she tore into the paper and he watched as it dawned upon her.

A dinosaur in getup not unlike his.

With a second gasp she uttered, "This is amazing," and sort of jumped in place but also didn't and just kind of stared from stuffed animal to Rupert to stuffed animal again, unable to speak.

He knew he was running out of time and he should leave and—and he _knew_ but—"Dina, there is... something I want to ask you. Um..." Oh, his heart was racing... "Would you... I'm sorry—I-I know this is sudden but... but would you..." He just knew she would reject his offer but he... "Dina, would you... would you like to come with me?"

Th-There. He bloody said it.

"Y-You mean..." He glanced up at her. She was staring off into a shadowy corner of the house. "I could... I-I _can_... I can..." Deep breath. "Th-That is okay? You... You _want_ me t—"

"Nobody else. I... I want it to be you." He was out of breath. It was hard to hear him. "But... that is... only if you want to." Then he smiled, gently, at the welcome mat beneath his feet. "If you... want to do this with me.

He let out yet another breath. "Please understand. If you do then you won't see... your friends, your family as much anymore. You'll be... far away. O-Of course, you can write letters and I'm sure there are times where you can visit but it... but they can't know about me.

Oh, this was the part where... "It's okay if... you do not accept. The being that I am—that my father and his brother and their father onward were—is not as... simple as merely human. If you refuse, you will... eventually forget about me, I am sure. The memories will fog and... there's just an imprint of possibility, of... maybe a Santa. Like how all the children think."

But he didn't want to lose his... _Dina_...

His... friend.

"No—No..." She shook her head. "No I..." Her eyes struggling. "I want to come with you. P-Please."

And so it was.

A hasty note was written and taped to the front of the door, something about leaving with Rupert but it was okay because she would be happy where she was going. She would not be useless.

Rupert left a vague address where the letters would eventually come—the ones he was sure Pauleen would leave. Angry letters he would have to brace himself for, ones addressed with something like _DINA DIDN'T SAY NO._

All Dina took with her were the clothes on her back and the stuffed animal he had gifted her but minutes before. They realized she forgot shoes and Rupert tried not to blush or anything when he opted to carry her even though he most certainly did. He took the zipline back up—long after the elves returned—and there they were moving into the cockpit of the S-1.

She without shoes and he without the dignity of a reason for why she was there in the first place.

The elves rather quickly came up with their own.

"Hey! I thought he wasn't into _girls_ like that!" one called.

The one beside him sniggered. "Maybe they're just friends."

"Yeah but she's _on_ the _ship_ , dude! Like, if that's any giveaway..."

Other comments simmered in the mix of heated words and chilly thoughts and the casual comments of those who simply didn't care one way or the other. Eventually Rupert found his voice and managed to explain to the sea of elves surrounding him; "This is Dina... an-and she'll be staying with us now. She's very good at making people happy, and I'm sure she will be a great asset to Christmas."

There was still some edge of tepid shock, but at the very least none of the elves looked about ready to throw her out the window or... anything so dire. One of them shyly crept forward and whispered, "Were you lonely, sir?" and it reminded him so much of _Pauleen_ that he couldn't find the words to respond.

Dina laughed. "No! He is not lonely, he is... he is..." She puffed her cheeks. "Ummm, well he cannot be lonely with all of you around! There is... so many! Eheh, you are all so very amazing!"

Then she caught sight of the one thousand reindeer chugging along at the front of the S-1 and it was a little too much for her to handle. The dinosaur fell from her hands. Her eyes went a little glassy. "That is... a-amazing," she muttered as she pointed sporadically toward the windshield, where numerous brown bodies sailed past.

"The, ah... the S-1 runs environmentally safe on... reindeer fuel. Oh and... milk and cookies, too, wasn't it?" Rupert glanced at one of the elves for a hesitant nod. They never really knew what to do with him since he was usually so reversed and depressing and all.

Like it was refreshing to see him cheerier but also... _weird_.

Rupert led his friend to the front of the S-1—being sure that she didn't lose her dinosaur now. Their reflections stared back in the windshield. Dina, laughing softly, waved at herself. She searched around the number of fobs circling around the front of the vessel and nervously chuckled. "I... um... this is very..."

"Oh, don't worry about it." He gently pressed a hand to hers. "There are a number of elves trained for maintenance and driving alone, and I know a number of tidbits toward it. It is... one of the few things my father... enjoyed telling me of."

Eyes wide, Dina glanced back at him. "Was your dad..."

"No, no, he was not the last Santa." Rupert smiled slightly. "It's... generations, our family has been alive. We live slightly longer lifespans than you but... not by very much, heh." He shook his head. "My _uncle_ was the last Santa. He never had any children, though—and even if he did, I am unsure which of us would have ascended—so the figurehead falls upon me.

Soft laughter. It mirrored hers. "It's funny how much more... magical the situation appears with you by me."

Dina giggled. Then she paused. "Oh, um! How did... you find this?" Gesturing to her stuffed Santasaurus. "Pauleen... eventually told me she had tried to find one, but they were all out. She felt bad so she let me have the... picture."

"Oh..." A notable blush seeped upon Rupert's features. "That... That is..." Oh no... "Well, Pauleen said that she would continue coming to... the shopping district—if she couldn't find one of them. And... as Santa I can... well, I have a lot of connections with different places, so it was..." He winced. "It was not very difficult to move the shipment from your neighborhood to another place. And it was not at all difficult to pick one up myself.

Quiet. Rupert closed his eyes. His face was red. "I just... I-I was scared that you'd stop coming if she found one, since I've... I've never really had a—had a friend before."

Head bowed.

"I distanced myself from the elves—hence how they... act around me. My father was always cold and disconnected toward children, especially his... own. Arthur... well it is no matter. He was busy too, of course, and... now he is... passed, so."

Dina's expression changed a number of times throughout his reprieve. At first she giggled and appeared about to chastise him for thinking how he did or ca-call him cute or something, but as he continued her demeanor further deteriorated until she stared back with such sad, sad eyes.

"I-I am sorry."

"No, it's... Don't worry about it." He raised his head to glance back at her. "Thank you for... joining us. I-I can't believe you did."

"Heheh..." She paused, then noticed the lack of elves in the area. "Wh-Where did the—"

Rupert caught her gaze. "Loading dock. Leaving shortly to send more presents into houses and the like. They may be gone by now." He smiled meekly.

She smiled back. "Ohhh... umm..." Shy glance. "Caaan _we_ go next time? A-Again?"

Her excitement caught up with him. "Yes, of course." And so it was.

 **There you have it xD it's a lot longer than I thought it would be but I guess I needed all that exposition/relationship building stuff if I wanted it to happen, haha. Which makes sense.  
**

 **I was worrying that I was rushing things but I feel like it wasn't so bad since the... situation? Dina and Rupert aren't in love or anything, I mean it's only been a few months, but they know they share something special andI'msurethey'llfallinlovelaterhaha**

 **He just wanted a friend xD oh Rupert xD**


End file.
